I do not have just one teacher or experience which made me want to become a teacher. Instead I think it is more lifelong love of learning and finding excellent teachers to help me along the way. I want other students to have the same kind of wonderful memories about school and about learning. To make a difference in that way I need to be a teacher. Helping with outreach activities at my job is really what pushed me to see that I might enjoy teaching. Giving the kids that came through our program just one opportunity to play scientist seemed to make a difference. At the end of the day they were excited and had wonderful comments about what they learned. If I could get kids excited for just one day imagine if I had them around for a year. More than learning science, I want to help students become excited to learn and to understand how an education can help them be successful.
If were to pick one teacher as my inspiration it would be not a teacher I had personally but a teacher I have observed a few times. She brings a group of students through to my outreach program. This teacher is the science teacher at Sophia’s Academy, a Catholic girls school and I really admired the way she interacted with the students. She never yelled, she was always calm, and she had total control over the class because of mutual respect between her and the students. What I enjoyed the most about her classes were all of the connections she helped her students make. When I was talking to the students about buoyancy of phytoplankton she would tie it to something they had already learned. There was also always time for reflection. It was habit to circle up at least once a day and each student would present some type of internal reflection on the day. I am not sure how well her approach would work in a public school but I hope I can work towards having a similar feeling of belonging in my own classroom.
I do not have just one teacher or experience which made me want to become a teacher. Instead I think it is more lifelong love of learning and finding excellent teachers to help me along the way. I want other students to have the same kind of wonderful memories about school and about learning. To make a difference in that way I need to be a teacher. Helping with outreach activities at my job is really what pushed me to see that I might enjoy teaching. Giving the kids that came through our program just one opportunity to play scientist seemed to make a difference. At the end of the day they were excited and had wonderful comments about what they learned. If I could get kids excited for just one day imagine if I had them around for a year. More than learning science, I want to help students become excited to learn and to understand how an education can help them be successful.
If were to pick one teacher as my inspiration it would be not a teacher I had personally but a teacher I have observed a few times. She brings a group of students through to my outreach program. This teacher is the science teacher at Sophia’s Academy, a Catholic girls school and I really admired the way she interacted with the students. She never yelled, she was always calm, and she had total control over the class because of mutual respect between her and the students. What I enjoyed the most about her classes were all of the connections she helped her students make. When I was talking to the students about buoyancy of phytoplankton she would tie it to something they had already learned. There was also always time for reflection. It was habit to circle up at least once a day and each student would present some type of internal reflection on the day. I am not sure how well her approach would work in a public school but I hope I can work towards having a similar feeling of belonging in my own classroom.